


A Mark out of this World

by crystalklances



Series: Of purple splatters and first words [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (obviously because canon), Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon Compliant, Fluff and Angst, Galra Keith (Voltron), M/M, Mentioned Background Relationships, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Trans Lance (Voltron), Voltron General Big Bang 2017, Written before season 3, big galra keith at the end, ftm mlm writer, only mentioned but Pidge is a trans girl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-12-08 20:15:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11653923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystalklances/pseuds/crystalklances
Summary: Lance has an alien soulmark and wonders why he feels drawn to Keith, Keith wonders if the universe played him a prank by giving him Lance as his soulmate—a seemingly unrequited bond. They find their answers when Keith discovers more about himself.





	A Mark out of this World

**Author's Note:**

> Here it finally is, my work for the Voltron General Big Bang! I first had the idea around end of November, and started writing around late january/early february, after signing up for the bang. That's why the writing might be different to my more recent works, but hopefully not too much.  
> As it's a big bang, there are artwork by the talented [@dannygrzlart](http://dannygrzlart.tumblr.com/)! Link to the tumblr post with both pieces in the end notes.
> 
> As the tags say, this was written way before season 3 with a deadline a week before s3 aired, and thus, no s3 events are present. The mentioned Sideships are Hunk&Pidge and Shiro/&Matt/&Allura  
> I had fun writing this and playing around with soulmark concepts and angst. I hope you'll enjoy!

Throughout the universe, people and beings of all kinds, in all systems and on all planets, have a connection with other souls. Most commonly, it’s a link between just two souls; however, it is not unusual for someone to have a connection with multiple other souls. Furthermore, whether the bond is platonic or romantic is not predetermined: often, the borders are fluid, and each match of soulmates figures it out on their own.

Each species has its own system of marks to determine who is a match. There are many ways—ranging from a system of words, names, symbols, a sharing of pain or drawings appearing on the other’s skin, seeing colors, and even being bound together by a string connected to your finger… With countless planets and civilizations in the universe, the possibilities are endless, but always uniform within the species. Soulmates usually find each other within their lifetimes.

To prevent possible struggle through miscommunication as well as heartbreak caused by unclear marks, the universe has thought of a means of insurance: when soulmates meet, they feel a magnetic pull to their mate. They will _know_ when they meet the one. And yet, in a rare, rare case of inter-species bonds with vastly different systems of marks, even this can cause grief stemmed from confusion and not knowing better.

This story is the story of one such relationship.

The story of a boy who reached for the stars to find his mysterious alien soulmate and learns that they have been right by each other's sides all along. And likewise, the story of a boy who was right next to his soulmate but has to discover himself before they can find each other.

 

***

 

Lance has always been a little jealous of the people surrounding him.

Sure, he was happy whenever he saw perfect couples or just seeing people talk so excitedly about their soulmarks and showing them to each other. Even in his own family, though, he just couldn’t help this feeling of being left out and _longing_.

Because, above else, Lance has always wished to meet his soulmate, no matter if their bond would turn out to be platonic or romantic, no matter if they were a boy or a girl or anything in between. He wanted to share with everyone the words his soulmate would say to him, the ones in their first proper interaction face to face.

But, you see, he never had any words to begin with. Instead, he was born with a pattern of purple splatters decorating his right forearm, a cluster of lavender spots frayed around the edges.

Personally, he never felt negative about his mark; ever since he could remember, Lance was giddy whenever he looked at it or touched it with his left hand. When he was a young child, he would ask many curious questions about soulmarks and how soulmates found each other.

Back then, he didn’t quite understand why his family would look at him with pity in their eyes, trying to skirt around the subject. But he would have none of that, he wasn’t stupid.

He learned soon that he was different, that he didn’t have a soulmate on Earth like everyone else. The logical conclusion to his three-year-old mind? “My soulmate must be an alien! I’m gonna go to space when I’m grown up!” he would declare to everyone who would listen.

His family soon realized that there was no use trying to convince him otherwise. However, he was constantly told to never show his mark. “It looks like your arm is bruised,” they said. “We don’t want people to get the wrong idea.”

So whenever he was with other people, already starting in kindergarten and continuing all the way to his school years, he had to act like he had no mark at all. This way, at least he was still able to get away with all his curiosity about everyone else’s stories and experiences. He needed to know all about it so that he would be prepared later when he was out there in space and finding life on far-away planets.

Most of all, Lance memorized every description people gave him of the magnetic pull they feel from their soulmate. He needed to make sure he would have a way to locate his destined partner, because there was no way for him to tell if he would be able to figure out when he found the right species out there.

Aside from learning all that he could about soulmates, he poured his energy into learning everything he could about space. His bedroom was adorned with glow-in-the-dark stars, imitating the first map of constellations he ever looked at and memorized. He painted pictures of planets and the moon and the sun. He read every book about space that he could get his hands on and watched countless upon countless documentaries. To his peers, he was known as “the space geek,” and whenever he was teased about it, all he did was grin brightly and declare that he would go out there.

When he was a teenager, he found out about the Galaxy Garrison while researching for possible career paths on the internet. There was an article about the facility, about the spaceships, the scientific missions and engineering programs, and most importantly: the pilots.

One pilot in particular, a young man by the name of Takashi “Shiro” Shirogane, was talked about in the article, having been one of the best in his year and the Garrison overall. Lance researched more and immediately knew that this was the chance for him, his gate to traveling out into space. With Shiro as his new hero, he worked harder than ever to be accepted into the Garrison.

Lance’s family, by now, had given up on trying to keep him bound to Earth. After all, what was most important to them was that Lance was happy and found happiness with his soulmate, no matter where in the universe they would turn out to be.

His parents supported him all the way by helping him prepare for his tests and helping him be as fit and healthy as he could be. His siblings and cousins helped him review for any tests and reminded him of submission deadlines as well as appointments when his scatterbrain decided to mix everything up.

When Lance finally received the news of being accepted into the program, everyone celebrated together.

When it was finally the time for him to start there, he found out about placing in cargo class instead of fighter class. But that was only a temporary damper—Lance was anything if not ambitious. He would work even harder than ever to move up and win a spot in fighter class.

With all the new people he met, it was the same as ever before: never showing his right arm, keeping attention away from himself by asking questions.

Should he be on the receiving end of questions, he would shrug and say: “I rather want to go out there and find aliens. I mean, just think about it, that’s so much cooler than staying down here. I want to explore space.”

He had a variety of valid excuses to avoid ever being seen with anything less than long sleeves. As a trans boy, he was lucky that he could be accommodated with a room of his own and could avoid communal showers. Just in case, though, he had made it a habit to have a bandage around his right arm and thinking up a random story he could use as an excuse.

Then, one week in, after the blur of orientation and getting used to living in the dorms was over and regular classes began, Lance met _him_.

 

Lance entered the lecturing hall of a lesson shared for all pilot cadets of his class when he felt it. A prickling sensation in his right forearm—his soulmark—and a _pull_ in his chest, making it harder to breathe out of nowhere. Lance wondered if there was something wrong with his binder, but no, that couldn’t be; he was always binding responsibly, and there have never been any issues with this binder. Furthermore, it wasn’t just a pull in his chest, no—it was actually _pulling_ him somewhere. It was like he was drawn in by a strong gust of wind.  
  
He let his eyes follow the direction of the pull, and his gaze fell on a boy his age, with jet black hair that was longer in the back, and a bored expression on his face. Just when Lance took a closer look at his face, taking note of thick eyebrows, the boy looked up and their eyes met. The other had dark eyes, gray with a hint of a dark shade of blue (indigo, Lance thought, but put it off as a trick of light). Lance found that he liked those eyes.

The other boy’s eyebrows were drawn together in confusion or thought as the two were seemingly stuck gazing into each other’s eyes. Lance wondered what the other might feel about him: if he liked Lance’s eyes the same way Lance loved his. Maybe he would be able to ask, one day.

The moment was broken when the instructor told Lance to get a move on and get to his seat.

Lance laughed sheepishly, raising his right arm to scratch the back of his neck, hoping that the uniform sleeve didn’t slip to reveal his bandage. Finally, he made his way to the only free seat: by some kind of fate or mere coincidence, it was right behind the mysterious—yet very attractive—boy. Lance tried to will away the still lingering feeling of the _pull_ by doing a breathing exercise.

 _You’re just seeing things_ , he told himself. _You saw someone very, very good-looking, and your teenage hormones are going wild. That’s it. We’re still on Earth, there is no way it could be that. The guy is human just like everyone else here._

And yet, he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that there was _something_ , especially when he found the boy turning around ever so slightly to glance back at him. It sent a shiver running down Lance’s spine.

The moment lasted until the other turned back around, saying a firm but unimpressed “here” when the instructor called out for a “Keith” during roll call.

Huh. So, the boy’s name was Keith. Lance made a mental note in the back of his mind. It would stick with him for a long, long time.

When his own name was called, Lance was glad that there was no need for correcting the instructor. Lance thought he could see Keith flinch momentarily, but chalked it up to his imagination. After all, it was impossible that Keith was Lance’s soulmate because he was human like everyone here, so naturally, it was impossible for Lance to be Keith’s soulmate, as well. Plus, they had never talked, so why would there be a reason for Keith to react to Lance’s name?

 

When the next health check up happened, everything was fine. Binder issues remained out of the question as well. But following this first encounter, the sensation never stopped.

Soon, Lance learned that Keith was regarded as a prodigy and the most talented pilot his age. Lance also figured out that he was somewhat of a lone wolf, keeping to himself and reducing the amount of contact he had with other students and even teachers to a bare minimum.

Part of Lance had hoped that maybe Keith would approach him after whatever it was that happened on that first encounter, but when it became apparent that Keith wouldn’t… Lance decided that he wouldn’t do anything to approach him, either.

He convinced himself that whatever it was he was feeling, it had to be a mix of confused feelings and pining, some weird kind of wishful thinking as well as admiration for the other’s skills. He resolved for himself that if he focused all his energy on competing with Keith for top marks in their class, he would be able to get rid of these feelings; hoping that, in turn, it would also help him along in his quest to achieve a spot in fighter class. After all, that was the whole reason he was here: to become a fighter pilot like his hero and have the chance to explore space. All to be able to find his real soulmate.

Lance worked hard and was right behind Keith in achievements on all their tests and beginner’s simulations. He made it to the very top of cargo class. With luck, he would be able to move up soon. That little game of pretending that nothing was going on and ignoring each other’s existence while competing for the top was still going strong between them, too.

Until Keith was kicked out of the Garrison shortly after the failure of the Kerberos mission became known.

Lance finally got the spot in fighter class he had been aiming for, but it was at the price of having to live up to Keith’s name, who he was filling in for.

With Keith out of sight, he tried to forget about the confusing feelings. He had more important matters, anyway; like working hard to prove that he _belonged_ in fighter class like everyone else. Being a good leader to his teammates Hunk, his engineer, and Pidge, his communications assistant. Not feeling like a total third wheel while Hunk and Pidge both figured out they were platonic soulmates, while Lance had to still pretend he didn’t even _have_ a soulmark, was very difficult, though.

At some point, he convinced himself he would never see Keith again anyway, and it was for the better that way. But that’s not what fate had in store for them—and he would find out sooner rather than later.

 

***

 

Lance sighed as he adjusted the bandage over his soulmark before putting on his paladin armor. There probably wouldn’t be a need for that since the flight suit and armor covered his entire body; but he was so used to it by now, it was the first thing he did next to putting on his binder.

Honestly though, Lance was just tired of this and wanted nothing more than to just tell everyone and wear his mark proudly, like he always longed to do. Especially now that he was out here in space, and actually _living_ with two aliens and four space mice. Of course, there were also four other humans, his fellow paladins, but that was beside the point.

... Except that one of the mentioned fellow paladins was _him_. Keith.

Once they had met again back on that night when they rescued Shiro and the day after when Keith told them all about the mysterious energy from the cave he found; when they found the blue lion and eventually arrived at the Castle of Lions on Arus, it became very apparent to Lance that after all this time, he was still very much having wishful thoughts and was still very much _pining_ over Keith.

It sure didn’t help that he still felt that pull already from the very moment he recognized his so-called rival from a distance by just his haircut. It also didn’t help that they seemed to gravitate to each other all the time and that Keith was talking to him ever since Lance, along with Hunk and Pidge, showed up when Keith tried to rescue Shiro on his own.

Actually… now that Lance thought about it… the moment Lance had introduced himself, Keith’s eyes had gone wider in reaction before he caught himself and spoke again (all while effectively crushing Lance’s heart by not even remembering him). Lance had tried to ignore it, like all the other so-called obvious hints, because it couldn’t be. That reaction only happens when people hear the words written on their body. Lance knew, he had witnessed it several times and heard about it countless of times more. But Keith wasn’t Lance’s soulmate. If Lance was Keith’s soulmate, that… would just be really messed up of the universe, Lance told himself.

Speaking of soulmarks, though… Lance still needed to ask Coran and Allura about the system of Altea and any others they might know about. Sure, it was evident that neither of the two was a likely candidate to be his match, especially because it was clear very soon that Allura and Shiro were soulmates (lucky Shiro, Lance thought). But he needed to learn all that he could so that he would be able to find his soulmate soon.

He made his way to the dining hall for breakfast before it was time for training. He hoped that it wouldn’t be too harsh; otherwise, he might have to talk to the others about his binder. During training at the Garrison, he had made it just fine, but he had to be prepared for the options of _what if_.

He finally arrived when everyone else was just sitting down too and went over to his usual spot next to Keith (and there it was again, that spark and pull and Keith glancing at him). He waited for his bowl of food goo to be served and for the perfect opportunity to strike. After waiting for a few ticks more, he turned to speak to Coran and Allura. “Can I ask a question?”

“Of course,” Coran said while Allura merely looked up at him. “What is it?”

“Well, I’ve just been wondering, and you don’t have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable, but… what were soulmarks like on Altea?” Lance asked.

“Of all the things… you ask about soulmarks?” Allura raised an eyebrow at him.

“Well, yeah,” Lance said, gesturing with his spoon. “It’s an important question for learning about different cultures throughout the universe!”

“I don’t see the harm in answering this question,” Coran said. “Within the Altean culture, we had our mate’s name on the back of our hand.” He took off the glove on his right hand to show the Altean symbols written in golden yellow. “My soulmate is long gone, but the mark is still there, as it’s a part of me, though it may also be because of being in the cryo pod for so long.”

His gaze held a deep sadness in it as he looked at his own hand. Allura placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. The paladins remained silent, each unsure what to say.

Finally, Allura was the one to speak again. “I always thought I just had a soulmate with a very complicated name, like someone from an area of Altea that was very far from where I grew up,” she said while showing her own mark, “because the writing is in Altean, but not a name I was familiar with.”

“And then it turned out that it was the first words I spoke to you in direct conversation, as well as the words of another person. Correct?” Shiro smiled over at her.

“Correct.” Allura smiled as well.

Shiro chuckled softly. “Meanwhile I always thought that whoever our mysterious second soulmate was, would only throw some random word at us. Matt had a lot of fun making up possible scenes, each more ridiculous than the other.”

“If the other words on my arm are supposed to be theirs, then I can’t wait to meet them.”

“He is a wonderful person,” Shiro said with a soft smile, though it was tinted with melancholy. “I’m sure you will love him just as much as I do, and as much as I love you already.”

 _Ah, there it is again_ , Lance thought. That little stab of jealousy. Lucky Shiro and lucky Matt, having an alien soulmate and _not even being aware_ of it because their mark had passed as a normal Earth soulmark. To cover up, he grumbled: “Watching this is almost as bad as constantly third wheeling with Hunk and Pidge.”

This earned him an indignant “Hey!” from both of them, and chuckles from the others.

Instead of giving them a reaction, he asked: “Anyway, do you know anything about other cultures? Any systems that don’t involve language?”

“Hmm… I don’t even know where to start,” Coran replied. “There are threads connecting fingers and the sharing of pain and scars, for example.”

“Really? That’s fascinating,” Lance said, nodding along. “Anything involving colors?”

“Well, for example, I know of a culture where the people are colorblind until they meet their soulmate,” Allura said, “but that’s an oddly specific question.”

“Nah, just plain old curiosity.” Lance shrugged and continued eating. “If I was able to read Altean yet, I’d research for myself. But I guess I just have to wait until we meet people from other different planets and ask them.” He tried to ignore the way everyone looked at him with curious eyes. He tried especially hard to ignore the way Keith’s eyes seemed to burn into him.

 

(Later that day, they met the Arusians and Lance learned that there were interesting systems like soulmates being connected through dance sequences in rituals.

They saved the day as Voltron when a robeast attacked. As a token of gratitude and a simultaneous farewell for their impending departure, there was a celebration the following night.

Lance didn’t remember much of what happened after, suddenly, he was hit with homesickness for Earth and his family and subsequently left the party so as not to bring down the mood. He _did_ remember the pain when he tried to shield Coran from an explosion caused by a Galra drone impersonating Pidge’s drone, Rover. He remembered thinking: “If I die now, I won’t ever know my soulmate, or why I feel so connected to Keith.”

What a strange thing to think right before falling unconscious from the blunt of a bomb blast.)

 

~~~

 

“Damn it!” Keith wanted to punch that blasted purple barrier. It had been an obvious trap to get the castle deserted. Keith should have _known_. He should’ve never left, should’ve offered to stay behind instead of Shiro when they discovered that Lance was gravely injured.

 _Lance_. His _soulmate_.

He had always felt that weird magnetic pull Shiro had told him about. Back at the Garrison, he could pass it off as being confused because Lance was incredibly cute. Just because he could’ve sunk into those deep blue eyes didn’t mean that they really were soulmates, right? And so what if his name was Lance, there probably were a bunch of people named Lance out there. After all, the guy never spoke to him either, so that had to mean he wasn’t the one.

Keith tried his best to ignore him aside from raising to the challenge of beating him in performance. And when Keith was kicked out and then moved into a lonely shack in the desert, he tried to convince himself he would never see Lance again.

But then Lance showed up on that night when Shiro returned, cockily declaring into the room that _he_ would be the one to save Shiro. Keith was stunned, and nothing could’ve prepared him for what happened next.

_“Uh, the name’s Lance?”_

The same words that had been on his right wrist in purple cursive all his life. Now there was no denying it, the talented and cute pilot always right behind him in academics and at the top of cargo class, was his soulmate.

At that moment, Keith couldn’t think of a better reaction and pretended he didn’t remember Lance at first. After all, Lance never showed any recognition at any of the words Keith said, either.

And yet, like at the Garrison, he was always right there. Looking at Keith, always making jabs as well as reacting to Keith’s own jabs; standing near him. There was also how Keith had been drawn to the mysterious energy that later turned out to have been the blue lion, which later turned out to be Lance’s lion. The pull had felt similar to whenever he was around Lance.

But frustratingly, Lance continued to be elusive despite being _right there_ with him. Asking all kinds of questions about soulmarks while avoiding to answer whenever the questions were directed at him. His wrists and hands being bare, but mysteriously covering up his right arm constantly.

And now he was gravely injured, locked up in the castle with only Shiro and Pidge, the latter who had wanted to leave the team, while Sendak and the other Galra took over and closed the castle off with their stupid, purple particle barrier. Lance had already been gravely injured and was now in even more danger, and Keith was out here because he was _an idiot_. Lance could be _dying_ right now, and Keith wasn’t able to protect him.

He tried to stay calm, he really did. After all, Allura was out here as well, and her own soulmate was in there. Heck, he figured that even Hunk might be able to feel that Pidge was possibly in danger, even though he was off with Coran to find a new crystal. But the difference was that Lance already was injured and unconscious and who knows how much damage he had taken when shielding Coran from that blast.

Keith wanted to scream and break down the barrier with his own hands. He didn’t care that Allura had most definitely figured out that Lance had to be his soulmate. All he wanted was to get in there so he could make sure Lance was safe and would be okay.

 

(After a lot of agonizing, with Pidge’s infiltration from within to stop the ship from lifting off and to raise the barrier, they were able to stop Sendak. Lance was beautiful and a deadly shot even when just waking up from a coma.

With the new crystal brought by Coran and Hunk, Lance was finally put into the cryo pod. Keith personally carried him to the med bay and would have stayed while preparing Lance for the pod, if Pidge hadn’t insisted on everyone aside from her leaving. She said it was “to protect Lance’s privacy.”

He understood, he really did, and he couldn’t just argue against it without flat-out revealing to everyone that Lance was his soulmate, so he had to comply. But the moment Pidge gave the okay for everyone to come back in, he stormed right back in. He would’ve stayed the entire day that Lance was supposed to stay in there if he hadn’t been dragged away. He just really wanted Lance to be back and safe for sure.)

 

~~~

 

Lance was confused when he came out of the pod. He was wearing a bodysuit that felt more like a second skin and made him wonder just what the others were seeing of him. Thankfully, once everyone stopped their strange little clock party and realized that Lance was awake, they let him go to his room to get changed into his regular clothes again.

He tried to ignore the shivers running down his spine from Keith’s gaze on him as he walked out of the med bay with Pidge to help him in case he wasn’t quite stable enough yet.

Lance was really glad for Pidge. They had had a difficult start as a team at first because Pidge kept her distance, but the two of them soon bonded when Pidge revealed to him that she was a trans girl. With Lance keeping her secret while at the Garrison because she was enrolled as a boy, they grew closer because of this shared trait.

While they were walking, Pidge explained that she had been the one to help him change into the bodysuit after Coran told them about that being necessary for the healing process.

When they arrived at Lance’s room, Lance told her that he was alright changing on his own. Pidge seemed to hesitate for a moment, but nodded and waited in the hallway.

Once back in his room and picking up his clothes, Lance realized that he didn’t have his bandage. He bit his bottom lip. Then, after taking a breath and shrugging to himself, he decided it really didn’t matter anymore.

When he was finally dressed properly again, they walked to the dining hall for Lance to have a much-needed meal of food goo. Lance shared with the mice from his spoon as he listened to everyone fill him in.

He couldn’t help but make a jab at Keith for having done the least out of everyone, only for Keith to exclaim, with his voice cracking: “We had a bonding moment! I cradled you in my arms!”

Lance denied it happening, although even though he had the perfect excuse of having been half unconscious, he knew that they did have a bonding moment. He remembered that they had been extremely close after Sendak was taken out of commission, remembered that Keith gave him his hand to help him up only to sit next to him once it was obvious that Lance wouldn’t make a move to get up.

“We did it, we _are_ a good team.”

Lance recalled saying those words with a smile while Keith was still holding his hand. He remembered Keith smiling back at him. He remembered feeling so at ease, so _right_ at that moment and giving in to the wild fantasy that Keith really was his soulmate. It must have been the eerie light of the Galra’s purple crystal. _Purple_. Like his soulmark. Like the colors of their lions, mixed together. Lance really, really wished it was true. After that, his memory became fuzzy. Although he did remember, vaguely, that Keith carried him bridal style all the way to the med bay.

Once all his questions about the attack and Sendak were answered, Lance noticed that Pidge was staring up at him with worry in her eyes. Lance asked: “What’s up, Pidge? Is something wrong?”

“Well…” she started. “When I helped you change into the suit for the cryo pod, I had to remove that bandage you always have on your right arm.”

“Oh,” was all Lance knew to say as an answer.

Everyone was looking on in confusion and interest.

Pidge continued: “Your arm… It’s purple and looks really bruised… did something happen? That wasn’t Sendak’s doing, was it? Did people back at the Garrison hurt you?”

From his line of sight, Lance could see Keith shift, balling his fist; could feel his eyes, intense as ever, burning holes into him. Lance laughed. He couldn’t help it. Of course that’s what she would think. After all, it was why he was so accustomed to hiding his mark in the first place.

He realized that everyone was giving him weird looks. Apparently, this was not an appropriate reaction. “Sorry, it’s just… well, I can’t blame you for jumping to conclusions because that’s what everyone thinks when they don’t know. But it’s nothing like that, don’t worry about me.” He sighed when everyone continued to look at him in confusion. “Well since the cat is already out of the bag, might as well tell everyone. Remember the other day? When I asked Coran and Allura about soulmarks, and Allura commented that I asked an oddly specific question?” He received nods in reply. Glancing up, he saw Keith’s brows furrow. Lance hastily looked back down at his right arm. “Well, that’s because it was for a very specific reason.” He rolled up his sleeve, revealing the purple pattern. “Ta-dah, my soulmark. Congratulations, you are the first people in a long, long time to ever see or hear about it.”

He chanced another glance at Keith, who was gazing down at Lance’s arm, brows still furrowed and expression hard to read. Lance noticed he was holding his right wrist, rubbing at it right by the root of the back of his hand, underneath the glove’s band, with his left thumb. Lance had to tear his eyes away.

“But didn’t you always say you don’t have one?” Hunk asked confusedly. “Okay, more like, whenever the topic came up you just avoided all questions and were more interested in finding aliens. And you knew about Pidge and me being soulmates, but you never showed us your mark even though you valued team bonding above all else.”

“Okay, Hunk, first of all, yeah I did avoid the topic because it would’ve been kind of awkward,” Lance replied. “It happened before, when I was a kid, that I didn’t listen to my parents and showed my mark around, which led to a whole bunch of trouble and yeah, after that, I hid it with a lot of care.”

“So then why the obsession with aliens?”

Lance sighed, holding up his arm and pointing at it to make a point. “Does this look like any words to you? I’ve always known that my soulmate must be an alien, so I decided I just have to go out into space if I want to find them.”

“So we both have an alien as a soulmate, huh,” Shiro noted.

Lance turned to him with a pout. “Yeah, except you didn’t even _know_ that your mark was alien. Meanwhile, ever since I remember, I had to learn literally every detail about how to recognize it when you meet your soulmate, so that I would be prepared for when I go out into space and explore alien cultures. Not that it did any help because sometimes I see things that aren’t there.”

The last part was more of a mumble under his breath, and his side-glance at Keith should’ve been barely noticeable, but Lance could swear that he saw Keith shift from the corner of his eyes. Lance was dying to know what Keith was thinking about, why he had been holding his presumed soulmark. But at the same time, he was also scared of what it could all mean.

 

***

 

The first time they met a duo of different aliens, Lance ended up getting chained to a tree and his lion stolen (which was brought back by _Keith_ who was flying through an asteroid belt to do so. Keith also came to unchain him; he seemed mad when he saw Lance in that position, but when Keith removed the handcuffs, he was… gentle, surprisingly, even checking to make sure there weren’t any injuries to his hands. Lance felt safe and loved, though he didn’t want to admit it. It wouldn’t do him any good to keep getting more attached to Keith). Later, it also turned out that Nyma and Rolo were already mates, anyway.

When they were off to rescue Balmera, there wasn’t much of an opportunity to ask about soulmate culture. And besides, with how he was teamed up with Keith throughout, his senses were all messed up, anyway.

When they were taking on Zarkon’s main fleet to rescue Allura, and Keith, reckless as always, tried to take out Zarkon on his own, Lance was anxious about him. The same happened when everyone was separated through the corrupted wormhole.

Of course, once Lance and Hunk met the mermaids on the underwater world they were stranded on, he was distracted; learning about their culture while saving the planet at the same time. Somehow, the group of mermaids working to free their fellow merpeople were convinced that Lance was the one who would save them. He had trouble believing it, but he did it, with the help of Blue unlocking a new weapon. In thanks, he got a kiss (on his helmet) from one of the mermaids; it wasn’t so bad because the mermaid was beautiful, but it also felt off, because he knew none of them were his soulmate. After all, his mark was purple splatters, not a colorful deep sea critter.

 

Finally, everyone was reunited at the castle. Lance was glad that Pidge, Coran, Allura and especially Keith were alright, though everyone was worried about Shiro’s injuries.

When Shiro was released from the healing pod, however, he told them about memories he regained: of a Galra who had helped him escape and gave him the coordinates of a location to travel to, hidden into his arm.

Once the ship arrived there, there was an intruder—it was Ulaz, the mysterious Galra who had helped Shiro back then. Of course, Allura was still wary, even though she trusted Shiro. Lance decided to stay behind with Allura and Coran while the others went to the rebel hideout with Ulaz.

But before they all left, Lance called out: “Wait!” He had to use the chance to ask a very burning set of questions because what if there was never gonna be another chance later? “Do Galra have soulmates? What are your soulmarks like? Or is there a connection in another way?”

Ulaz stared at him for a second, as did everyone else, and Lance grew increasingly nervous. But finally, Ulaz answered: “We do have soulmates, like most species in the universe. Our marks are usually something telling about our mate. However, often, there is a challenge in finding our mate.”

“A challenge?” Lance raised his eyebrows. “That’s… odd.”

“That is just how our species is. We are fighters, we live for the challenge,” Ulaz said.

Lance mulled over what he just learned. The soulmark being something telling about your mate and the process of finding them being a challenge… he couldn’t be _entirely_ sure, but somehow, it felt like that was what it was. Maybe his soulmate was a Galra. Plus, now that he thought about it… his mark was _purple_. Galra were all purple of some shade. Maybe his soulmate had a lavender coloration like the pattern on his arm, perhaps even something like freckles on their arm.

Still in his musings, he glanced up, only to find Keith looking at him with a thoughtful expression matching his own. Their eyes met, and Lance felt reminded of that first time they crossed paths back at the Garrison.

He tore his eyes away to look back at Ulaz. “Thanks for answering my questions. That was very informative,” Lance said.

“You are welcome. Though it is weird for you to ask about this kind of thing when we are supposed to get things done for the fight against the Empire,” Ulaz remarked.

Lance laughed sheepishly. “Yeah, I know, but… I just had to ask while I had a chance. I have to know all I can to even find out what species my soulmate belongs to. And it’s weird, but I have this feeling that your answers are the first clue I got so far.”

Ulaz looked at him for another moment. “What a strange idea, that the universe might have matched a Galra with an Earthling, one who happens to be a paladin of Voltron, no less. Let’s hope for your sake that if it’s true, it is someone belonging to the resistance.”

With these words, he turned around, signaling the end of the conversation and for the others to leave with him.

Lance watched them go. He didn’t miss out on the way Keith seemed to trail behind for a moment to continue looking at him with that pensive look. Finally, he too left, and Lance was alone with the Princess and Coran. Alone with his thoughts.

 

~~~

 

The night after their encounter with Ulaz and learning about the Blade of Marmora, Keith was restless. There were a lot of thoughts running through his head, making him unable to fall asleep.

First, the crest on Ulaz’ sword. It looked exactly like the one on the knife Keith had had all his life. Keith barely knew anything about his family. He didn’t even know where or how he got the knife; he remembered having it all his life. Did this mean he was part Galra? Part enemy?

The way Princess Allura had reacted to Ulaz… would she react the same way to him? How would everyone else react? Shiro and Pidge, too, would have a reason to hate him. Coran and Hunk were a wild card, and Lance…

That brought him to the second point: the questions Lance had asked Ulaz about how soulmarks worked for the Galra—while everyone else was present, including Keith himself. The way Lance had reacted, what he said in reaction to Ulaz’ answers… was he able to tell now that his soulmate was Galra, even though he hadn’t met the one yet?

Keith frowned at the thought of Lance being with any of the Galra like the ones they had met so far, especially if they were on the side of the Empire. Keith really didn’t like the thought of his soulmate being with anyone else, especially if it was like competition from his own suspected heritage.

But then it hit him. _He was possibly part Galra_. If Lance’s soulmark really was a Galran mark, it meant there was a chance that he was Lance’s soulmate. With all the signs leading up so far—how their eyes always seemed to lock, how Lance kept glancing at him when he thought Keith wasn’t looking, how Lance appeared to gravitate near him, how even their lions seemed so closely connected… there seemed to be a real, a very real, chance that Keith could be Lance’s soulmate.

After finding out that Lance’s soulmark wasn’t a mark for a human, Keith had resigned himself to stop hoping, knowing that the universe really must hate him to give him a one-sided match. But now… if he was Lance’s soulmate for real, it meant that at least there would be no way that _Lance_ would hate him. The way he had reacted to the possibility, not disgusted or freaked in the slightest... with the way he had seemed relieved, even, there would be no way that Lance would hate him for being part Galra. Even if the rest of the team were to hate him… at least he would still have his soulmate.

Keith finally fell asleep with the hope that even if finding out the truth about his heritage might be harsh and lead to pain, he might at least be together with Lance soon.

 

In the time following after, whenever there was free time, Keith would seek out the castle’s library. There simply had to be something on Galra culture, _anything_. He tried to ask Coran for help, too. Coran never judged any of the paladins for their requests, no matter how strange or personal they might be. Or if he did, he was excellent at hiding it to be of help, but that was a detail that didn’t matter, really.

After what felt like searching for an eternity, Keith finally found something: a book on … Galra courtship? _Huh._ Keith stared at the title. It should have been surprising to him that he was able to understand what he assumed to be the Galran alphabet. But somehow, he just _knew_ , on some instinctual level, so he didn’t really question it. What mattered anyway was the fact that he _was_ able to read it, not _how_. Especially with his assumption of being part Galra, it could very well be a thing that’s possible, or maybe he had learned it as a toddler, who knew. He sure didn’t, and it didn’t really matter.

With that, he opened the holo scroll to go through the contents. And what he learned from it was fascinating. Very informative. There was a lot about mating habits on the index of the scroll ( _a step too soon_ , Keith told himself), but also how to get started. There was a lot of talk about fighting—both verbal arguments and play-fights—as well as asserting dominance.

Keith frowned. That… sounded a lot like the so-called rivalry between him and Lance. Sure, they didn’t fight physically, training for battle-situations aside, but their competitions of all kinds sounded a lot like this. And Keith was always determined to win, Lance’s own determination driving him to be better than he ever was instead of simply being content with his natural gifts and not really caring otherwise.

That, and he, too, was never shy to make jabs at Lance until he “won” by leaving Lance unable to come up with a better comeback, thus giving Keith the last word. He never really did that with anyone else, not like this… could it be that on some deeply instinctual level, he _knew_ what to do and had tried to court Lance all along?

Just as he was about to go on to the next chapter, he was torn out of his thoughts by a voice whispering right into his ear: “What’s so interesting about this old scroll? Can you even read that?”

Keith nearly jumped out of his seat. His attention had been so drawn into the scroll that he hadn’t even felt the approach of Lance, even with the tell-tale pull. Keith turned to face him. “Just doing some studying. And why wouldn’t I be able to read it?”

Lance raised a quizzical eyebrow at him. “Dude, that’s definitely written in Galra symbols. Even if it was in Altean, you shouldn’t be able to read it like it’s nothing.” He paused and furrowed his brows. “... Wait a minute. Back on Balmera, when we were working together at the hangar, you knew what to do with the hand print. Don’t tell me you somehow, in the very short time we’ve been out here, have become fluent in Galra.” Lance crossed his arms in front of his chest, and Keith got a nice view of the purple pattern on his arm because Lance had stopped covering it with a bandage and wasn’t wearing his jacket at the moment. “I should’ve known! _Of course_ you would find something to one-up me again like that!” His tone was a whine of annoyance.

Keith took in his words, and it was like the gears were turning quickly inside his head to instantly make him react in light of his recent findings. He smirked. “Yeah, of course,” he said with confidence. “I have to make sure you know who’s on top of the game.”

Lance sputtered and pouted, but it quickly turned into a glare. “Oh yeah?” he scoffed. “I’ll become fluent in Altean _and_ any other alien language I can get my hands on. _Then_ we’ll see who’s best at being multilingual!” He jabbed a finger in Keith’s chest while talking, then stormed off, huffing.

Keith stared at him go, feeling smug. He really did a great job at courting Galra-style. Now he just needed to keep going like this and continue reading the scroll to learn even more. Maybe there would be some good tricks to perfect his courting game.

He finally moved to the next chapter and found that it was about the Galra’s inherent protectiveness of their mate, more so than their pack in general (Keith guessed that “family” was a substitute in human terms). _Huh_. Interesting. Keith knew that he could be protective of those he considered dear to him, like Shiro and now everyone in the Castle, who were like a new family. Attributing it to his Galra genes made sense.

And as for the part about being especially protective of his soulmate… Keith thought back to when he was locked out of the Castle with Allura back on Arus, how he thought he was going crazy with worry because he couldn’t do anything to protect Lance. He recalled his impatience when Lance had to stay in the healing pod for a day. And when they met Nyma and Rolo, Keith absolutely hated when Lance left with Nyma, though he couldn’t openly complain. Bringing the blue lion back was equal parts determination to get back at those two for tricking everyone and _taking advantage of Lance_ , with Red adding onto Keith’s determination and protectiveness with his own input into Keith’s mind.

As Keith let his mind wander over more situations highlighting this, he felt similar to when he realized that everyone being from the same cosmic dust applied to the Galra as well. “This really explains so much,” he mumbled to himself.

He continued to read, being so caught up in it that he nearly didn’t hear when everyone was called to the bridge for talk about strategy. He closed the holo scroll and put it securely away in his pockets.

His subsequent interactions with Lance were full of plenty of playful arguments and random competitions, most with Keith succeeding. Keith also made sure to show off his strength (though he ended up doing even more reckless stunts than usual that he somehow pulled off just fine, anyway).

 

Some nights later, Keith found himself in an escape pod with Princess Allura, because they both were convinced that they were the reason Zarkon was able to track the castle.

It was awkward most of the time, especially because through her words, it was still apparent to Keith that he would not be able to expect an all too positive reaction to his heritage from her.

But what he didn’t expect was for her to say: “So you and Lance, huh?”

“Huh?” Keith glanced at her in surprise.

“You are soulmates,” she stated.

For a moment, Keith wasn’t sure what he should say. Should he deny it? Agree? Point out that as far as he knew, it was only one-sided? Then he remembered Allura had been there with him, locked out of the castle on Arus. She had seen the way he reacted with a lot more emotion than should be expected. There was no use denying it. So, Keith nodded. “At least, he is my soulmate,” he explained. “I don’t know if I am also his.”

The Princess’s eyebrows were drawn together. Did she suspect anything already? After all, she had been there with everyone when Lance asked Ulaz about what soulmarks were like among the Galra. But all she said was: “I see.”

Later, when Voltron was needed, and they returned to the others, Lance contacted Keith to ask if he was together with Allura. Keith picked up on the edge of jealousy. Did Lance think something was going on between Keith and the princess, despite knowing that she had already found Shiro and had yet to meet her second mate? It didn’t make sense to Keith, but it gave him more reason to hope that Lance had suspicions of his own.

 

~~~

 

Lance did not like the fact that Shiro had picked Keith to accompany him to the headquarters of the Blade of Marmora. At first, he merely felt a stab of jealousy and inferiority. It meant he wasn’t good enough, Shiro didn’t see him as worthy.

But it soon turned to worry. None of the group had any idea how long Shiro and Keith would be in there. They had no idea what could happen to the two. All they could do was sit back and wait it out until the path would open again.

Then suddenly, the red lion started attacking. Lance’s worry increased even more. There was only one explanation for this: Keith must be in danger. Lance didn’t understand, _couldn’t_ understand how everyone else could be so calm. Even Allura was calm, despite not knowing if the threat applied to Shiro, as well.

Lance felt like crying. He could… feel it, that something was wrong. Keith was fighting _something,_ and Lance was out here, unable to help and support. He rubbed his right arm, his soulmark, for comfort. In the back of his mind, he could feel a soothing suggestion from Blue. _Don’t worry, my Paladin. Red knows what to do. He will be alright_ , was what it felt like, even though it wasn’t said with words _._

Then finally, _finally_ , the red lion returned. Shiro and Keith stepped out together with two members of the Blade of Marmora. Keith looked severely beaten up, and Lance had to fight the deep urge to run over and hug him and personally tend to his wounds.

It felt like… lately, something had changed, shifted, though he wasn’t quite sure how or why. Lance felt like it wasn’t just the weird pull anymore, it felt more like a true, deep connection now. Already ever since he found out about Galran soulmarks and first had the thought that his soulmate might be Galra... but now even more so. But that would mean Keith had to be…!

When the introductions were over, it was decided that Keith had to be checked for deeper injuries, despite claiming he was fine. Lance trailed along the entire time, unable to stay away, under the pretense of assisting Coran. He felt Keith’s gaze on him every now and then, too.

Eventually, Coran declared that Keith wouldn’t need the healing pod, just needed to rest later, and sent him to get changed back into his regular clothes (on that note, Lance really wanted to know what was up with that skin-tight glowing bodysuit).

Everyone returned to the ship’s bridge, and when Keith came back to join them, his face was serious. He announced he had something to tell and proceeded to talk about what happened when he and Shiro arrived at the secret headquarters. How even despite the ban on bringing weapons, he had kept his knife anyway because he wanted answers, and the Blade threatened to take it from him, thinking it was stolen. He told about how he agreed to challenge the trials—for “knowledge or death.” How he kept fighting and fighting even though he got hurt badly against more and more opponents, until he figured out what he was supposed to do.

Next, he told about the two illusions he saw that had felt so real to him. And finally, how just when he was about to give up the knife—his one chance to find out about himself, the missing link to his past—the blade changed form. “Awakening the blade is only possible for someone with Galra blood.”

At that point, Allura left the bridge. Her expression had been dark the entire time, and she even brushed off Shiro’s hand on her shoulder as he tried to calm her down. The atmosphere was tense.

“So, the conclusion is, my mom must’ve been Galra,” Keith finished.

Everyone else was silent. Lance spoke before he could stop himself. “So… you’re part Galra.”

“Yeah, that’s what I just said.” Keith looked at him with furrowed brows.

Lance held his gaze, rubbing at his mark through his sleeve, and continued. “Are there any changes? Like, are you turning purple? Maybe some kind of weird freckles on your arm?” He felt stupid and incredibly vulnerable for asking, especially in front of everyone, but he needed to know.

He could hear someone—maybe Kolivan or Antok—say “what kinds of questions are this?” but he was too focused on Keith and waiting for a reply to really care who it was.

Keith was still looking at him, eyebrows now raised in confusion—or maybe surprise?—and he said, slowly: “I don’t think so… no...?”

Lance felt stupid. So, so incredibly stupid. And he felt like crying, tears already prickling at the corners of his eyes. He laughed quietly, a hollow sound. “Yeah… of course, that would’ve been… too good to be true.” Not giving anyone a chance to say anything, he absconded.

At the bridge, everyone was staring between Keith and where Lance had just run off. Keith finally snapped out of his daze. “Damn it!” he cursed and dashed to run after Lance. Hopefully, even in his weakened state, he would be fast enough to catch up, before the other could run off to somewhere where Keith would have to go search for him. Keith was mad at himself. He messed up. Lance had been trying to determine if Keith was his soulmate and Keith screwed up by not reacting fast enough to the situation. He had to fix this. “Lance! Wait!” he called out.

Lance slowed down and turned. If Keith was running after him like that, it had to mean something… right? Even though he didn’t want to be seen crying, he was also still hoping.

Keith finally caught up. He saw wet streaks on Lance’s cheeks, and tears still coming from his eyes and felt a stab in his heart. He decided that he really, really hated the sight of Lance crying. “I’m sorry,” Keith said. He wasn’t quite sure if this was the right way to go, but he felt like it was what he had to do now. He removed his right glove and looked at Lance, taking in his eyes widening in surprise. Keith continued, quietly: “I probably should’ve done this a long time ago, but I felt unsure.” He raised his hand, backside revealed to Lance to show off the words permanently written on his skin. Then, he gave into his urge to wipe Lance’s tears away with his thumb.

Lance sucked in a shuddering breath when he saw the mark on Keith’s wrist. _Uh… the name’s Lance?_ His own words from what seemed like forever ago, in lavender cursive. The same shade of purple, matching the splatters on his arm. When Keith gently touched his face, wiping at the tears with his thumb, Lance leaned into the touch. “You—I—I’m your soulmate?” was all he could get out in a weak croak.

Keith nodded. “I knew ever since you showed up that night when Shiro returned, but I never said anything because you didn’t show any recognition to anything I said. That was before I knew. About your mark, I mean.” He looked away for a moment, taking a breath, then looked back at Lance. “And when you told us about your mark and showed us, I didn’t know what to do. I thought that the universe screwed me over once again by giving me an unrequited bond until I first started to think I might be part Galra. That’s when I started to hope again.”

Lance took a deep breath, and let it out in a slow, breathy laugh. “And here I was, thinking the whole time ever since the Garrison I saw things with the way I feel around you and the little details in your reactions around me,” he said, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “And when Ulaz told me about the system of Galra soulmarks, I had this feeling that my mark was for a Galra… and I felt like something was changing, but I was still so unsure, you know?”

In reply, Keith nodded. “Yeah… back at the Garrison, I was really unsure, too. Because you never spoke to me directly back then, so I had no idea if it really was you. Even though you had the right name and I could feel it. At some point, I thought there was no way I could be this lucky to have someone as cute as you as my soulmate.” He smiled briefly before his expression went serious again. “When we met again, I didn’t know what to do, so I acted like I didn’t remember you. That was stupid, after finding out for sure that you are my soulmate. But I was still unsure when you never reacted to my words, you know. And then when Sendak attacked the castle, back on Arus? I was so worried I thought I was going crazy.” He laughed quietly.

Lance pouted and huffed. “Yeah, well, how was I supposed to know? We met on Earth, and you look all human.” His face softened again. “I… I was really worried too when Red started attacking earlier, I could feel that something was wrong and I felt helpless. Even Blue’s voice in my mind didn’t help much, though, for some reason, Blue was very convinced that Red had everything under control. And then when you came back, all I wanted to do was hug you and also personally tend to your wounds.”

Keith smiled. “Well, we can hug now.” And he did just that, closing the distance between them and wrapping his arms around Lance’s waist, drawing him close. He could feel Lance inhale as he raised his arms to wrap them around Keith’s shoulders. Keith nuzzled his face into Lance’s neck. “And for the record, I never had my eyes on your lion. But when I found Blue… the pull I felt from the energy, it felt just like the pull from you.” He paused as he remembered something, and pulled back to look at Lance’s face again. “Remember when your lion got stolen, and Red and I came to the rescue?”

“How could I forget about the moment you were my shining, hot-headed knight in red armor?” Lance smiled. “What about it?”

“Well… Red was oddly determined, and kind of angry. He was also very satisfied and proud when we got Blue back.”

“Huh.” Lance thought for a moment. “You don’t think… maybe our lions are soulmates too? We should ask Coran about it, he would know, wouldn’t he?”

“Yeah, maybe later. For now, I just want to get some rest,” Keith said, trying and failing to stifle a yawn.

“You should do that, then.” Lance frowned, worried.

“Only if you come with me. I really don’t want to let go of you right now. Now that I finally know we belong together.”

Lance smiled. “No complaints there. Cradle me in your arms again. This time I’ll remember clearly and won’t pretend I forgot,” he teased.

Keith snorted. “I should hope so.” He leaned forward to kiss Lance’s cheek below his eyes, were the remains of tears were still visible. Lance’s skin was so soft and smooth, he wanted to touch all over it. It was a foreign, but pleasant sensation. “Let’s go to my room, then.”

Lance now snorted, as well. “You know that our rooms are literally next to each other, right?” he pointed out. “But okay, if you insist on it, we can go to your room, but only because you’re in need of rest.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “How generous of you. Next time we can go to yours if it makes you happy.”

“Yes, it’s crucial.”

They both laughed quietly and finally left. They held hands the entire walk to the hall where their rooms are located. Keith unlocked the door’s opening mechanism, and they stepped in. But before they reached the bed, Lance suddenly let go of Keith’s hand.

Keith turned to look at him and frowned at the sight of Lance fidgeting with his sleeves. “What’s wrong?” Keith asked with concern.

“Uh,” Lance started, still fidgeting, “I need to take off my binder first…”

“Oh. Are you fine wearing your shirt without it?” Keith asked, brows furrowed. He knew the Castle supplied pajamas and other things for all paladins, he’d just never worn his own pajamas before. He didn’t feel comfortable enough to completely give up being prepared in a case of emergency yet. It would be a good thing to offer to Lance, though, he thought. “Do you want to wear my pajamas?”

Lance considered for a moment. Truth be told, he didn’t feel that uncomfortable with his body in itself. And this was Keith, who already saw him as a boy. Still, Lance felt insecure and was glad that his soulmate was this attentive and considerate. But, the idea of wearing Keith’s pajamas made him want to giggle with excitement, if he was honest. Finally, he responded with a counter-question: “What about you if I wear your pajamas?”

“I never actually wear them,” Keith admitted, “I’m too used to always sleeping in my clothes for cases of emergency, so it’s no problem. You’d have the honor of being the first to wear them.”

“I can’t believe my soulmate is a heathen.” Lance shook his head, but his fond tone and the smile tugging at the corner of his lips betrayed him. “I want your pajamas, then.”

Keith nodded. “Go ahead and grab them from the closet, then. I’ll turn around while you’re changing.”

Lance smiled at him before Keith turned to face the other way. Lance made his way to the closet and opened the door to retrieve the pajamas. He walked over to the bed so he wouldn’t have to let anything fall to the floor. He got changed, making sure to take several deep breaths after taking off his binder before putting the pajama top on. When he was done, he neatly put his clothes and shoes away. Then, he sat down on the bed and said: “I’m done, you can look again.”

Keith, admittedly, had been impatient but he would never say that out loud because his soulmate’s comfort was more important than anything else. He turned to face the bed again, smiling at the sight of Lance in the red paladin’s pajamas, sitting against the wall, one leg drawn up to his chest and the other hanging off the edge. Keith swiftly got rid of his boots and jacket and, after a brief second, decided to take off his belt and fanny packs, too. Once that was taken care of, he finally went to join Lance on the bed. “Are you okay with lying by the wall?” he asked.

Lance nodded. “Sure, that’s cool for me.”

“Good. I don’t like the idea of you being out in the open like that.” Keith moved to lay down, pulling the blanket up for both of them.

Lance laid down as well, facing Keith. “Why would it be an issue if I don’t lie by the wall?”

“Just to make sure. You never know when there might be an attack.”

Lance couldn’t stop the small snort from escaping. “You _do_ realize that even if there’s an attack, the intruders have to pass the Castle’s defenses first and we’d be alerted to it through the alarms, right?” A little softer, he added: “Also, I can defend myself just fine.”

“I know that!” Keith burst out a little too loudly. He quickly lowered his voice again to explain: “I know, but that doesn’t stop the fact that I feel the need to protect you. Especially because you’re my mate.”

“Huh. Is this some kind of Galra thing? That’s cute, in a kinda weird and ridiculous way.”

Keith pouted. “I can’t really help it, it’s kind of like an instinct. I get it with the others, but it’s so much stronger when it comes to you.”

Lance reached out to cup the side of Keith’s face. He smiled when Keith leaned into the touch, eyes closed. “You should teach me all about those Galra things,” he murmured. “I want to have a better understanding so we can avoid any misunderstandings or that I accidentally cross a line when I’m teasing.”

Keith hummed. “I can tell you all about my successful courting of you.” He yawned. “Another time, though. I really want to catch some rest now.”

Lance had already mouthed the word “courting?” with a quizzical eyebrow but nodded. “Of course. You need the rest.” Hesitantly, he scooted closer to nuzzle his face against Keith’s chest and wrap an arm around him. “Is this okay?”

“Perfect,” Keith mumbled, nuzzling into Lance’s hair and pressing a soft kiss against his head. “As long as you’re fine with it, too.”

The blue paladin laughed softly into the fabric of Keith’s shirt. “I did tell you to cradle me in your arms again,” he teased lightly, “so come on, wrap your arms around me already.”

“Gladly.” Keith finally wrapped his arms around Lance, pulling him even closer. It felt so foreign, holding someone in his arms in a situation like this, but he loved the feeling. He loved holding Lance in his arms, knowing that Lance was right there with him, knowing that he was safe and well. Keith breathed in the scent of Lance’s hair—it was a sweet fragrance, like flowers and coconut—and sighed. “G’night, Lance.”

“Night Keith, have sweet dreams.”

They stayed like that until the next morning, Keith sleeping like a rock and Lance drifting between light sleep and being awake. He didn’t want to admit it just yet, but he felt nice and safe in Keith’s arms. He liked the feeling. Finally, he, too, fell asleep to his soulmate’s even breathing against his hair and the gentle up and down of his chest next to his own face. No one came to interrupt them.

 

***

 

There was a lull before the steps to prepare for the grand plan to beat Zarkon were about to be taken. Lance and Keith barely left each other’s side; after all, they still had to make up for lost time. They touched casually in any way they could: holding hands, thighs bumping together, walking shoulder to shoulder. Lance carding his fingers through Keith’s hair, Keith rubbing gentle circles into Lance’s skin with his thumb. Leaning onto the other’s shoulder; Lance sitting half sprawled over Keith’s lap.

For Keith, in parts, he was trying to avoid facing the others because he was still scared of being shunned, especially after the way the Princess had walked away during his explanation of what had happened at the headquarters of the blade. Being with Lance calmed him down and soothed his nerves, though. He supposed that the others decided to give them space while their presence wasn’t required, as no one tried to seek them out.

They were currently sitting on Lance’s bed, Keith leaning against the wall and Lance sitting on his lap while Keith gave him a shoulder rub. Lance was humming contentedly, and Keith smiled. However, even that didn’t stop his thoughts from straying back to the Princess’ reaction.

Apparently, Lance was able to sense this. He stopped humming his tune to ask: “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Keith said out of reflex. His hands stilled as he realized that he did it. He had wanted to be more honest about what’s bothering him, especially with his soulmate.

Lance furrowed his brows and turned so that he was facing Keith, straddling his lap. He raised his left hand to take Keith’s still raised right hand, clasping their fingers together. With his right hand, he reached out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind Keith’s ear. Maintaining eye contact, he tried again in a soft voice: “What’s wrong?”

Keith sighed, closing his eyes just for a moment to gather his thoughts. “I’m worried that the Princess hates me now,” he replied.

“Hmm. I guess I can see where you’re coming from, with the way she walked out on your explanation,” Lance observed.

“That’s not all,” Keith continued. “When the Princess and I both thought we were the reason Zarkon was able to track us and ran away? I already had my suspicions about my heritage and was trying to figure out what her reaction might be like. It wasn’t positive, and I understand, I really do, but that still made me afraid of telling anyone, you know? But…” He thought back to their conversations while flying the pod. “She had also made the observation that you are my soulmate, and she was there when you talked to Ulaz about Galran soulmarks… so did she already make a connection then too…?”

Lance looked at him in thought. “No way to tell that unless she talks about it,” he said. “Give her some time to get used to the situation. I’m sure she’ll come around. Shiro and Coran are probably both gonna talk to her about it, too. And if she or anyone else says anything mean about you, I’ll defend you, don’t worry.” He added a wink and finger gun. A singular one, because his left hand was still linked with Keith’s right.

Keith laughed softly and leaned forward to touch their foreheads together. “I’m so glad I have you,” he murmured. “The thought that at least you would stick by my side was what kept me sane when I first started doubting my humanity.”

Lance smiled softly. “Of course I would stick by your side, even if you weren’t my soulmate. I’m easily trusting, remember? The fact that you’re my soulmate is just the cherry on top.”

“You’re silly.” Keith chuckled. “But thank you. I’m still anxious, but less than before.”

“Good.” Lance grinned. He moved away from Keith’s lap. “Now lay down, I wanna give you a back massage, you’re probably all tense and stiff from all that training and brooding you do all the time.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “I’m not brooding all the time.” But he let go of Lance’s hand so he could do as told.

“Yes, you are.” Lance knelt and started kneading Keith’s back. “Well, at least you didn’t deny that you’re training all the time, cause you really couldn’t have argued against that. A fault confessed is half redressed.”

“I think you’re exaggerating, but I mean… you’re not entirely wrong.”

“Exactly.”

Keith couldn’t see Lance’s grin, but a fond chuckle rumbled through his torso nonetheless. Lance could feel it in his hands and laughed softly in return. It was a happy moment.

 

***

 

“Keith! Wait!” Lance ran after him.

Keith had just agreed to go on what could only be described as a suicide mission, and Lance would be damned if he let his soulmate go without a proper goodbye. Just in case … No. Lance couldn’t think like that. But he wanted a proper goodbye, nonetheless.

Keith stopped at the sound of Lance’s footsteps catching up with him, but he didn’t turn around. Truth be told, he had tried to avoid this. “What do you want, Lance?” he asked.

“What do I—? What the hell, Keith?” Lance skidded to a stop. “First you volunteer for a suicide mission and try to run off without a word, now you suddenly act like this?!”

“It’s the only way we can still make the plan work. I’m the only one who can do this.”

“Do you think I don’t know that?” Lance cried out. “But you can’t just leave like that, like—like there’s nothing between us. You—you could at least give me a proper goodbye!”

“I’m sorry. I—” Keith shook his head and sighed in defeat. He couldn’t do it, either way. “I thought it’d be easier if I just leave.”

“Keith…”

He finally turned around. “I… I didn’t want to end up not wanting to go because I don’t want to leave you behind, but I guess I didn’t think about how _you_ would feel here. I’m sorry.”

“You’re an idiot.” Lance let out a shaky laugh. “Just—just come here.” He opened his arms for a hug. “Hug me and promise you’ll come back safe.”

Keith stepped forwards to embrace Lance. He took a deep breath, taking in Lance’s scent, then exhaled shakily. “Only if you promise you’ll take care, as well.”

“Of course I’ll take care!” Lance huffed. “Now promise.”

“I promise I’ll be back safe.”

“Good. Now go on, you have a job to do, don’t you?”

Lance moved to step out of the hug, but at the same time, Keith did something completely unexpected: he leaned forward to kiss Lance. It was a short kiss, but full of emotion: remains of the regret of lost time, promise for the future, _love_. When they separated, Lance stared at Keith in a daze.

“You wanted a proper goodbye, didn’t you?” Keith said hoarsely. “Before we separated for the preparation missions, you joked about a kiss from Allura and got one from the yellow mouse instead, so I thought…”

Lance snapped out of his daze. “Oh my god. I mean, I’m definitely not complaining… but now you have to come back even more so we can do this again.”

“Yeah. I’ll kiss you again when I come back.”

“Now go!” Lance made shooing motions. “You have a mission waiting for you, for our victory!”

Keith chuckled. “Yeah. For our victory. And for you.”

He sprinted onward. Lance watched him go with mixed feelings. He had to believe that Keith was going to succeed, that they all were going to succeed. Not just for himself, but for the universe, to protect Earth and go back home. Together.

 

***

 

With time passing, Keith’s body began to change, physically adapting to his Galra genes. First, he grew taller and broader, gradually, until he was towering over everyone else. At first, he had trouble adapting to the change; suddenly, he kept bumping into the ceiling or forgot to bend down to pass through lower doorways.

His newly gained strength, too, was hard to control at first: it wasn’t rare that he’d wreck something, be it the training dummies or objects for everyday use like cutlery. A friendly pat on the back would result in a teammate toppling over wheezing. (When it came to Lance, however, Keith’s touch was gentle and controlled—always the right amount of strength, never too soft and never to hurt.)

Lance needed some time to adjust, too; he was unsure of how he felt about Keith’s changes. On the one hand, Lance was annoyed with suddenly being on the shorter end of the crew. In contrast, though, he secretly loved how big Keith was now: in Lance’s eyes, it made Keith hotter than ever before. It was also a bonus how easy it was for Lance to get piggyback rides now whenever he felt like playing silly or didn’t feel like walking.

On the flip side, the height difference made kissing a challenge—when standing, either Keith had to bend down, or Lance had to half jump, half climb up. It also wasn’t rare that Keith just dipped Lance, movie-style, for a kiss.

Keith’s height wasn’t the only change, though. The dark indigo of his irises became speckled with golden yellow, making his eyes glow and resemble opalesque gemstones. (He was now also able to easily adjust between light and dark, being able to navigate no problem even under the sparsest light conditions.)

His hair became thicker and shining like silky fur in the light. His ears grew longer and pointier, resembling fins in shape. Along with the change in their appearance, his hearing became more refined.

The most important change, however, was his skin. It started to turn purple, but not wholly so: the lavender coloration spread out in places, but never completely. Instead, it seemed like an artist was starting to color but never finished an area before moving on to the next, leaving sprinkles like freckles around the edges. While the color spread over time, his right arm remained his human skin color, aside from his soulmark on the root of his wrist—and splatters of his purple Galra coloration on the forearm, exactly mirroring Lance’s soulmark.

The first time Keith showed the change on his right arm, Lance started crying happy tears because now they were matching.

 

Down the road, Keith and Lance have only grown closer. They still had competitions and arguments here and there, but they were playful in nature. They have both become stronger, together, throughout their journey as defenders of the universe, making a name for themselves as a great team. Sharpshooter and Samurai, Red and Blue, The Purple Duo. Purple, because they loved wearing “their” color together, loved showing their soulmarks and the matching patterns on their right arms.

With time passing, all the paladins have assumed different extra roles: for example, Keith served as a link to other Galran colonies with anti-empire sentiments. Lance, the most adaptable, fluid and friendly of the group, had received training in diplomacy. Often, they have solo missions for diplomacy together: in equal parts because Keith insisted on being with Lance _just in case_ , and to raise awareness of the resistance movement among the Galran people. A bonus was that with Keith’s presence, sketchier folk among the cultures they visited were less inclined to try to take advantage of Lance’s easy trust.

(Apparently, Galra gave off a rather strong, universally understood signal of firm protectiveness over their mate, which they learned during several instances of people trying to mug Lance. Even full blood Galra back off when trying to harm Lance in Keith’s presence—which the team started to use as a battle tactic, much to the chagrin of the couple involved.

“It’s the most efficient strategy,” Allura claimed.

No point in arguing against their princess.)

 

On one such diplomatic trip together, Lance was supposed to hold a speech along with Allura at a formal visit with the Gigantians. As the name suggests, the Gigantians were a people of giants. Allura, with her Altean shape-shifting abilities, was easily able to adjust to their size to fit in and be seen.

Lance, however, had to be creative as he lacks this ability for not being Altean. Expertly, he jumped up Keith’s back to climb on his shoulder, making himself comfortable there. “Alright, now I’m ready for the speech.” He grinned.

Keith made a small growling noise in the back of his throat. “Remind me again why I put up with this?”

“Because you love me and want me to be successful in my diplomatic endeavors,” Lance said in a singsong. He laughed as Keith huffed in reply. “Aw come on, it’s not like I’m a burden for you to carry, you can toss me around like I weigh nothing.”

“It’s the principle of things,” Keith grumbled. “You really are lucky I love you, you know.”

“Aw, I love you, too, honey.” He bent forward to give Keith an upside-down kiss from above. “Now get a move on, Allura’s talk is nearly done, so it’s time for my speech.”

Keith smiled after the kiss was broken. “Of course, of course.”

Thanks to sitting on the shoulder of his over-2-meters-tall part Galra soulmate, Lance made a grand impression on the assembled Gigantians. The castle of lions expertly secured another ally in the quest to ensure peace throughout the universe. Later, at the banquet, Keith was not tired of emphasizing to their teammates that it was all thanks to him. Lance—still sitting on his shoulder—punched his arm.

(“Was that supposed to hurt? Because it felt like a bug sitting on my arm.”

“Shut up.”)

 

 

Another time, the two visited a planet which was comparable to a tourist hot spot for soulmates going on honeymoons and celebrating their bonds. The native people of the planet were very accommodating as well as sensitive to bonds and feelings, which was part of why this economy was thriving especially well, famous through the galaxies.

Originally, Keith and Lance were supposed to establish an alliance between the inhabitants and the Paladins of Voltron, as well as bring a variety of resources found on the planet to help with upgrades, repairs, and technical advances. Of course they did both of those things, but they also indulged themselves in several attractions for soulmates.

Most of all, Keith bought a matching set of rings made of a unique material while Lance was distracted with gathering information about exclusive beauty products found on the planet. One of the rings was red, the other blue, and both turned purple when the two were together or thinking strongly about the other. The colors were exactly matching the colors of their lions and soulmarks.

Keith picked the blue ring for himself, and when he presented the red ring to Lance, much like a marriage proposal reminiscing Earth culture, Lance started crying tears of happiness. They have been wearing the rings ever since and are now being called “the husbands.”

 

One time, the castle visited another space mall. While Coran kept watching over the Castle, the others entered the mall and split up. Hunk and Pidge were looking for tech supplies they needed or might still need on the castle; Shiro, Matt, and Allura went on a shopping date so Allura could finally have the sparkly things she had wished for the whole time.

Meanwhile, Keith and Lance decided to sit down in what looked like a café. They ordered drinks and pastries and were surprised to find that the drink did taste just like coffee.

“It’s a cosmic latte,” Lance commented. “Look, it’s even the exact color even though it tastes like black coffee!”

“That’s so weird,” Keith said. “The color feels off, I usually take my coffee with just a bit of sugar.”

“Heh, for me, I don’t mind black coffee but I prefer milky coffee, so the color is just fine for me.”

“And the cake tastes like cherry coke, but it’s colored like a bag of jellybeans,” Keith observed.

“Oh my god, you _gotta_ let me try yours. Mine tastes like mountain dew.”

Lance didn’t wait for a yes or no—he simply reached across the table to take a forkful from Keith’s cake.

Keith sighed in feigned exasperation but smiled fondly down at Lance.

When the group met up again to get back to the castle, everyone was in good spirits from the trip. Lance, though, was also feeling a little homesick again after the reminders of familiar food and drinks from Earth at the café. Keith helped him through it by asking Lance to tell him all about his family.

“I can’t wait to meet them all,” Keith said.

Lance smiled. “I can’t wait to introduce everyone to my hot, awesome alien soulmate and husband.”

“I’m not _entirely_ alien, you know.”

“But you _look_ kinda full alien, and my soulmark is alien so same difference.”

“You’re impossible.”

“Impossibly in love with you, yeah.”

They both broke into laughter, ringing beneath the projected star map on the Castle’s observation deck.

Someday soon, they would be back home on Earth. They would be able to visit the beach. Lance would reunite with his family and introduce them to Keith, after all this time. They would be able to tell everyone about their adventures with the crew as defenders of the universe. And most of all… they would be together through it all.

**Author's Note:**

> And this is the end of my first long oneshot! There will be another (even longer) oneshot for a Klance bigbang around September, so look forward to that if you enjoy long pieces and shenanigans!
> 
> As promised, here's the link to the artworks. If you enjoyed them, give a reblog!  
> http://dannygrzlart.tumblr.com/post/163868398691/my-art-for-the-voltron-big-bang-go-check-out-the
> 
> And as always, I can be found on [twitter](http://twitter.com/crystalklances) and [tumblr](http://crystalklances.tumblr.com)!


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